1. Technical Field
A tamburello is a type of paddle or racket used in a game called palla tamburello which has been popular in Italy for as long as four centuries. The game may be played informally among two or more players in which a ball is batted back and forth using the tamburello or it may be played in an organized fashion on a court of specified size, usually 20 meters by 80 meters between two five-man teams. Aside from the court and any markings thereon the only equipment utilized is a tamburello for each player and a ball.
2. The Prior Art
The tamburello is reminiscent of a tambourine in that it has a rigid drum or rim across which is stretched a suitable membrane. The traditional tamburello was constructed by laying up fillets of wood and then machining it to a perfectly round shape and using an animal hide or stomach as a membrane secured to the drum by nails, studs, pegs or the like. Conventionally, the hide was wetted and stretched before being applied thus tightening as it dried.
In more recent years as professional teams appeared the traditional wood and hide tamburello has been replaced by tamburellos made from plastic with various materials for the membrane. By their nature the professional models available are quite expensive and not suitable for amatures or as toys to be used by children. For such purposes the conventional tamburello of wood and hide or even using stiff papers have been all that was available. Such wood and hide or paper tamburellos are easily damaged by the weather particularly moisture or rain and are very difficult to draw tightly with any sort of uniformity. If the membrane becomes slackened the device becomes useless and moisture readily slackens the hide materials or destroys paper. Still further, if the membrane is taut at one point and slack at another point so that it is non-uniform in its tautness it then becomes undependable as a useful tamburello.